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Convoy
truck with two first-generation shipping containers]] Convoy is the name of multiple series of Matchbox tractor-trailers. The series has been introduced several times, with varying names (e.g. Matchbox 900 and Super Rigs - see more complete list below), and produced three distinct generations, the latest being known as Super Convoy. Trucks and trailers from the same generation are interchangeable, but those from different generations do not fit together. Numbering Convoy trucks is complex, as sets were often numbered separately from the tractors and trailers. This article addresses the numbers of the trucks and trailers, rather than the sets. Before Convoy 1-75 Tractor-Trailers The 1-75 series featured a few tractor-trailers, such as the Freeway Gas Tanker and the Articulated Truck. These vehicles consisted of a small two-axle tractor and a single-axle semi-trailer in a vehicle that fit into a standard box or blister pack. Tractor and trailer were detachable, but neither was of much play value on its own: the tractor was only 1 inch long (and about an inch tall), making it unstable without its trailer, and the trailer lacked any front support without its tractor, leaving it lying rear-end up when uncoupled. Thus, the idea of (in play) dropping off one trailer and picking up another one, an essential feature of the trucking industry, was awkward at best. The Container Port (PS-1) play set, introduced circa 1976 and featuring the then-new intermodal containers, included the Articulated Truck's tractor with a longer trailer designed to accept two first-generation shipping containers, but this truck only appeared as part of set PS-1. King-size The Super Kings series of the 1970s and 1980s featured several articulated trucks, but most were permanently attached to their trailers. Even in cases where trucks and trailers were detachable, lack of a universal hitch impeded trading trailers between tractors. First generation The original Convoy trucks, also marketed under the Matchbox 900 name, featured tractors the same size as the mainline vehicles, using Superfast wheels, and bore the Superfast logo on their bases. The trailers had an inverted T''-shaped tab that fitted into a ''T-shaped slot on the tractor. These were the first Matchbox trucks where part of the play value was intended to be the interoperability of different cabs and trailers. Two, or possibly three, two-axle tractors was offered. Long Haul was most frequently seen, appearing in at least two colors, green and red. The articulated trailer functioned as a flatbed trailer, capable of hauling two first-generation shipping containers. Different designs featured the articulated trailer fitted with a plastic box as a box trailer, or with plastic stakes for carrying pipes or timber. Tractors Trailers Second generation for Convoy trucks, from 1982. The case's two trays each hold twelve trucks in a six-by-two arrangement, for 24 trucks total. Josiah Carberry Collection.]]Tractor-trailers were updated in the 1980s, with a greater variety of tractors and trailers. Trailers were now fitted with a ball-and-post type of hook, fitting into a keyhole slot in the tractors. As with the first generation, wheels and size were the same as mainline vehicles. Second-generation tractor-trailer sets were also sold as Super Rigs and Super Star Transporters, and in larger sets as Team Convoy, a name not exclusive to tractor-trailers. Similarly, at least one Highway Cruisers set featured a G2 tractor trailer plus a car. In 1982 a special carry case was issued for storing and carrying tractor trailers; this case bore the name Highway Express, suggesting that this name may also have been applied to the trucks themselves. Tractors Most second-generation Convoy tractors were based on prototype vehicles. The numbering of second-generation tractors is particularly complex, as some of the trucks were also issued independantly in the mainline series without trailers, but with mainline numbers. The mainline numbers appear in this table, where available. Trailers Super Convoy The third generation of Convoy sets is slightly larger than the mainline vehicles, sharing its size and wheels with Real Working Rigs, instead. These vehicles are marketed as Super Convoy trucks. A post and flange on the trailer fits into a keyhole slot (larger than the keyhole slot on the second generation trucks) on the tractor. With the Real Working Rigs, the Super Convoy trucks fill a market niche similar to the Super Kings trucks of the 1970s. Tractors Trailers List of Series Names ''Convoy'' as in Other Series Convoy trucks also appeared in other series, non-exclusively: * "Two" Packs, later known as the 900 series, then Twin Packs, still later Team or Team Matchbox. "Two" Packs consisted of two models: two cars/ trucks, a truck and trailer, a car and trailer, or a locomotive and train car. * Highway Cruisers, where a tractor trailer appeared with a car. * Big Movers, a series that also featured buses in the same scale. Category:Tractor Trailers Category:Convoy Category:Super Convoy